Eric Ciotti, leader of the Republicans (LR) of from Francewas fired on Wednesday “unanimously” by the traditional right-wing party that leads for a year and a half, due to his attempt to ally with the extreme right in view of early parliamentary elections.
“We have just unanimously voted to exclude Eric Ciotti from our political family. He is no longer a member of the Republican Party,” the party said in a statement published on X, formerly Twitter.
Cioti’s announcement on Tuesday that he wanted to form an alliance with the far-right National Alarm (RN) surprised a large part of his party and caused an uproar.
Who’s in charge
Annie Genevard, general secretary of the Republicans, and François-Xavier Bellamy, MEP and former main candidate for the 2024 European elections, will assume the interim leadership of the party.
![France: Eric Ciotti ousted from Republican presidency 1 repoumplikanoi gallia](https://thegurumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/repoumplikanoi_gallia.jpg)
But Cioti, 58, contested the vote and its results, arguing that “none of the decisions taken at this meeting have legal consequences. They can have criminal consequences.
“I am and will continue to be the president of our political party, elected by our members”, he added to X.
He locked the party offices
Earlier in the day, the former leader barred the party headquarters in Paris, explaining that the meeting to remove him was against his party’s rules.
“I have to guarantee the safety of the staff. Furthermore, no meeting was ever scheduled at headquarters this afternoon,” he said on social media.
Ciotti’s announcement also caused outrage among other political parties. Earlier on Wednesday, French President Macron said Ciotti “will have to clarify” his decision after making a “deal with the devil.”
Macron announced early elections on Sunday after his party was crushed by the RN, which won more than 31% of the vote in the European elections.
The Republicans, however, finished fifth with just 7.2% of the vote and critically behind the left-wing Socialist Party and the radical left France Insubordinate (LFI) party.
Marine Le Pen, former RN leader and president of her group in the national assembly, hailed Cioti’s announcement as a “courageous decision”.
Source: Euronews